Castle Hall
The Castle Hall is a location in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. It is the third stage of Chapter 6. It reappears in Chapter 13, Reverie, as the first stage as Gabriel Belmont revisits it. This is where Gabriel encounters Laura. He reenters the damaged castle through here after being summoned by her in Chapter 13. Chapter 6 Zobek's journal :"Time is running out. Night is almost upon us. Soon the castle will be swarming with vampires. Those who are the most powerful of their kind are able to take on the appearance of highborn humans. Gabriel must be on his guard now, for appearances can be deceptive. I have heard that in this place, one may face one's deadliest foes without realizing it until it is too late." Enemy Data Item Data Notes *The level's unlockable trial requires that Gabriel finishes the level and wins the Vampire Wargame without losing more than three pieces. Chapter 13 (Reverie) Gabriel's journal :"It seems like only yesterday that I stood there upon that cliff top, looking down into the abyss of my life. Everything that I had ever loved taken from me. Defeating the Lords of Shadow had been a hollow victory. Now I was on a journey, a journey that I could never imagine in my darkest nightmares. As I stood there contemplating my fate, a voice entered my thoughts, a cry for help that I could not ignore. A debt was owed, a life for a life and what was left of my broken humanity felt obliged to do the honorable thing to repay that debt. Looking back now, I realize that none of us has any real control over our fate. We are like leaves on the wind to be blown wherever we may." Synopsis Directly following the events of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, Gabriel, disillusioned after defeating Satan and the Lords of Shadow, and unsuccessful in restoring Marie to life, is telepathically called by the vampire Laura, Carmilla's "daughter", who begs for his aid. Laura claims she is afraid of a serious, imminent danger, and that he is the only one who can help her. From the Land of the Dead, Gabriel returns to the Vampire Castle in response to Laura's summons, out of respect for her sparing his life. Upon his return, Gabriel finds that the perpetual ice of the damaged hall is melting, as sunlight streams through the windows. After a quick fight with some ghouls that were roaming around the hallway with Laura's timely assistance as she appears to Gabriel in the Castle Hall in the middle of the skirmish; she expresses gladness that he had answered her summons, and leads him to the room where her giant game board is kept. She claims to understand his feeling of being "betrayed" and "alone", stating that "you get used to it, you know?", but Gabriel disagrees, citing that if she believed that, she would never have allowed him to live. When asked by Laura if he regrets that, he cuts her off, asking why she had summoned him. Laura then tells him that the world is in great peril. Centuries ago, the original owners of the castle, the Bernhard family, has summoned a very powerful demon, the Forgotten One. However, this demon proved far too strong for the family to control; it broke through the containment spells the family had lain on it and escaped, nearly destroying the entire world. Fortunately, the founders of the Brotherhood of Light (Carmilla, Cornell and Zobek), knowing it to be impossible to destroy the demon, were able to contain the Forgotten One within an interdimensional rift, sealing it by combining their powers. They then built new areas of the castle to bury the original fortress of the founders, where the demon was imprisoned deep within. After conducting the spell which separated their bodies from their souls, the founders, now the Lords of Shadow, separated due to personal quarrels, but Carmilla specifically stationed herself at the castle to keep guard over the Forgotten One for she feared what might happen should the demon escape from its prison. However, after the deaths of the Lords of Shadow —and their angelic counterparts in Heaven— at the hands of Gabriel under false pretenses, the seal on the Forgotten One was greatly weakened and Laura revealed that it was only a matter of time before it was released again. However, some years earlier, Carmilla had told Laura about a forgotten section of the castle, which would lead to the Forgotten One's prison. Gabriel reacted to this news with indifference, but Laura angrily called him "a fool", telling him that should the demon get loose, in its rage it would obliterate the world in retaliation for being trapped for so long; if Gabriel did not help to destroy the Forgotten One, he would have the deaths of thousands of innocent people on his head. Gabriel then agreed to help Laura stop the demon. Using the pieces of Laura's chessboard and several tapestries, Gabriel moved the chess pieces into a specific sequence on the board squares, which unlocked a secret passage beneath the chessboard leading below to the Abandoned Wing. Successful in solving the puzzle, Gabriel and Laura raced down the newly formed staircase. Enemy Data Item Data Category:Halls Category:Lords of Shadow Locations